What have lists to do with Stress Management? Plenty! I will explain in a bit using words used by my client today.
Our working memory is constantly challenged because we have multiple immediate tasks and decisions to deal with in our current fast, furious and technologically advanced age. Little wonder, we keep dropping the ball(s), causing us further stress and anxiety. When we can’t stop our minds whirring, the constant worries and thoughts just churning away like a witch’s cauldron, sleep, a naturally reparative process, comes but rarely. Lack of sleep (insomnia) is a big problem with lots of adults & children suffering from it. The knock on effects of insomnia are huge including, increased risk of:
Heart problems
Diabetes
Road traffic accidents
High blood pressure
Weight gain
Infection due to compromised immunity
Lowered productivity because of low mood and poor concentration
Anxiety
Pretty global isn’t it? But these are effects we can measure, what about those that remain uncited?
Claire is an book keeper/accountant who presented with moderate levels of stress and a very tight upper body. She wasn’t sleeping well, her time management was poor; she had noticed a drop in work performance, was feeling anxious, couldn’t relax and generally feeling a lack of enthusiasm. In addition to providing physical therapy and various stretches to do at different times of the day, I also suggested that at the end of her work day, she have a Board Meeting with herself when she compile an Agenda for the following day, a list of 5 urgent matters that she needed to carry out (no more than 5); the same to be done with her personal tasks.
A few sessions later she remarked that creating these lists had provided the following benefits:
increased productivity and efficiency
increased confidence that she could complete the tasks
reduced tension
reduced mental machinations about awaiting tasks
clear end to the working day after which she felt ‘free’ to enjoy her family time
life felt simpler
In Claire’s words, she felt it was ‘liberating to write the lists and it works like a charm!’
Not only do lists help to organise and reduce stress, in his book The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande, a general surgeon and Associate Professor at Harvard University illustrates how having check lists reduce mortality rates in hospitals
Better start having that Board Meeting with yourself.
